Everything's Fine
by Threadbare Story Teller
Summary: Beth is slowly losing hope in the way the world is. She's tired of caring, and she's tired of losing everyone she loves. She finds a friend and comfort in someone she never would have thought of. This is a Beth and Daryl fanfic, set somewhere between Season 3 and Season 4.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that this is my first Walking Dead fanfic. Constructive criticism is ****_always _****appreciated! This will story will mostly center around Daryl and Beth. Don't read if you don't like it. If you do like it, please read (and of course review!) This takes place somewhere before, and during, season four. However, it ****_will not_**** follow the show story line. Events from the show may pop up here and there though. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead. Some of my original characters may show up here and there, but all main characters do not belong to me. Also, this story is rated 'M' for a reason.**

* * *

I just couldn't say goodbye. Time after time, I watched people leave and never come back. I was losing everyone I loved in the world. Who was next? Maggie? Daddy? I was tired of crying. I was tired of caring. Judith began fidgeting in her make-shift crib. Her soft cries brought me out of my thoughts. I picked her up and rocked her back to sleep. What sort of world was this to grow up in? She would grow up without a mother, in a world full of monsters. I gently put her back down and sat back down on my bunk.

The prison had changed so much in the last few months. It went from a hiding place to a sanctuary. It seemed that each time someone went out on a run, they brought more and more people back. With all these people around, I had never felt more alone. Maggie was hardly ever around. She was either out on runs, on watch, or with Glenn. I didn't really mind much, but I missed having my sister to talk to. Judith was my only company, and I hardly ever got to see her either. I was deep in my thoughts again when I heard a soft knock. I looked up to see Carol standing just outside of my cell.

"Hey Beth," she said with a soft smile.

"Hey," I replied.

"I came to get Judith, Rick wanted to see her for a bit."

I nodded and lifted the baby from where she slept. She was getting so big. She now had a soft tuft of hair on her head and a pudgy little body. When I picked her up, she barely stirred. I carefully handed her to Carol and the older woman nuzzled her against her chest.

"Where you coming to dinner tonight? We've missed you the last few days." Carol whispered.

I was slightly surprised to hear that I was missed. I know she probably was just saying that, but it made me feel better.

"Probably not, I'm not really hungry. I think I'll just go to sleep."

Carol nodded. "Okay, well if you need anything feel free to find me."

I nodded and Carol left. I didn't really know what to do when I wasn't taking care of Judith. I tried to read, but it was hard to enjoy a book when you know you may not be around to finish it. I sighed and sat back down on the bunk. Without anything else to keep my mind busy, my thoughts began to wonder. I thought of the farm, about Jimmy, about how things used to be. Those happier times seemed like ages ago. I can't really remember the last time I was truly happy. It was probably before the dead started to rise.

I used to think that things would have been better without Rick and his group. That if they had never stumbled across the farm that things would have been okay. Jimmy would probably still be alive, and everything would have been okay. I sighed again. I knew that wasn't the truth. We would all probably be dead without Rick and his group. Daddy would have never wanted to leave the farm without Rick, even if it did get overrun.

I saw someone go past my cell out of the corner of my eye and my body was suddenly alert. Everyone else was supposed to be at dinner by now. I got up and grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk that sat across from my bunk.

"Hello," I called. "Carol is that you?"

A shiver went down my spine. I know that I saw something. All of the sudden, I saw someone move from the shadows.

"Easy girly, it's only me." A male voice called out.

I gripped the scissors tighter in my hand. I recognized the man's face, but I wasn't sure of his name. He had been at the prison for a couple weeks. He came back with Maggie and Glenn when they went on a run. He stepped closer and closer until he was only a few feet away.

"Aren't you supposed to be at dinner?" I questioned.

"I could say the same for you. Don't you know it's dangerous to be alone? Maybe I could keep you company."

My stomach lurched. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted much more than company. His stance was almost predatory. My knuckles were white from how hard I was gripping the scissors.

"N-No thank you, I'm fine." My voice broke. I knew I that I was being weak, but I was suddenly very afraid. I learned long ago, that there are other monsters besides the ones outside the fence. The man chuckled and took a couple more steps closer.

"Don't." I stated a firmly as I could.

"Shh, it's okay little girl. This won't hurt, it'll be real nice."

With each step he took, I took one back. Eventually my back was against the wall. I mentally screamed at myself for being so stupid! My mind went into over drive thinking about escape plans. As of right now, the man was blocking the door way. In mere seconds, he was only a few inches away from me. I could feel the heat radiating from his body. He reached his hand out and brushed his thumb across my jaw line. I flinched away, but it only made him laugh.

'Oh God,' I thought, 'please don't let this happen.' A tear slid down my cheek.

"What a pretty little girl." He purred. His voice made me sick. I was dizzy and nauseous. That was when I remembered the scissors in my hand. Without thinking, I forcefully jammed them into his arm. He yelled and I pushed him out the way. I was nearly out of the cell when I felt a hand wrap around my arm. I screamed in pain. I could already feel the bruised forming.

"You little bitch!" He yelled.

I tried kicking him, but this only made him grip tighter. He pulled me back into the cell and forcefully threw me against the wall. My head connected with the cinderblock, and I my vision went white. My body went limp. My mind was screaming at me to move, but I couldn't. I could feel his hands pushing up my shirt.

"Please," I croaked.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell for help, but I couldn't. I braced myself for the worst, but all of a sudden his hands were gone. I slid down to the floor. My vision slowly came back, but it was blurry. I could see two different shapes in front of me. They seemed to be fighting, but I couldn't tell for sure. I silently thanks God, and reached my hand up to the back of my head. The back of my head was wet and sticky. I brought my hand back down, and my fingers were covered in blood.

I could hear someone shouting, but it was almost like I wasn't really there. The voices sounded distant.

"You sick fuck!" Someone shouted. The voice sounded very familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Shadows crept slowly into the edges of my mind. My vision was slowly turning to black.

'Is this is?' I thought. 'Is this how I die?'

All of a sudden, there were hands on me again. I didn't care though. I didn't care about anything. Someone was lifting me up. I strained my eyes to see who it was, but it was no use. I closed my eyes. Whatever happened from now on wasn't up to me.

"Beth, c'mon Beth. Listen to me girl. Ya hear me? C'mon. Wake up."

Whoever it was, was pushing my hair away from my face.

"Daryl, what happened? What's wrong?" I recognized that voice instantly.

"Maggie, she's bleeding. Go on, go get your dad and Rick. Hurry up."

Daryl? Why was Daryl here? Was he the person who saved me? I opened my eyes again.

"That's it, c'mon girl. Stay with me."

"Daryl?" My voice croaked again. Why was my throat so dry?

I tried to keep my eyes open, but it was getting so hard and my lids were getting so heavy. My eyes fluttered closed again. I wanted more than anything to go to sleep. My mind was going blank, and it was getting hard to concentrate. Part of me knew that I needed to stay awake. Part of me wanted to know why Daryl was here, but a bigger part of me begged myself to let everything go. I just needed to get some sleep. I needed to stop thinking, so I did and everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Eh, I'm not really happy with this chapter. Please read and review. Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and faves so far on this story. They seriously help me to continue writing!**

**Disclaimer: Again, this is rated 'M' for a reason. There's nothing too bad in this chapter. Mostly just some foul language from our favorite Dixon.**

* * *

Daryl was furious to say the least. He wanted to kill that son of a bitch. He slammed his fist against the cinderblock wall. His knuckles came back bloody, but he didn't care. As soon as Hershel got there, Daryl carefully passed Beth to him and went to finish what he had started. Rick would have none of that though. The once-sheriff claimed that the man had enough. Daryl wasn't so sure, the sick fuck deserved to have more than his face bashed in. That was the trouble of bringing all these people back to the prison. Not everyone could be trusted. Daryl knew that it was for the best. There was safety in numbers, but it still didn't make it any better that there was now a want-to-be rapist amongst their numbers.

In the days that followed, the Council discussed what would happen to the man. Daryl voted that they let him finish the fucker off. He knew that if Hershel was here, that he would even agree with him. Eventually someone suggested that they give him a pack full of supplies and send him out of the prison. Daryl certainly didn't like the idea for numerous reasons. First off, they were giving a rapist the much-needed supplies that people risked their lives for. Secondly, if they sent him out of the prison who was to say that he wouldn't snitch their location to every desperate asshole looking for a place to call home? In the end though, that was the suggestion that won everyone over. Daryl volunteered to be the one to take the man out of the prison. Of course, Rick gave him a very disapproving glance. It was decided that he would go out on the next run, and that they would leave him in whatever town they stopped at.

That meeting was this morning, and he was still trying to figure out ways to finish what he started. "Whatever," he muttered under his breath. He sunk to the floor and looked around the room he was currently in. This was where he came when he wanted to be alone. It wasn't anything fancy, but people left him alone if he was in here. He found the place after Merle died. It looked like it was probably a storage room before. Shelves lined all but the one wall that the door occupied. Daryl couldn't think of what the shelves might have housed before, but now various weapons occupied some of them. He brought a table and placed it in the room as well. It made it easier for him to be able to clean the weapons. He wasn't a fan of using guns, but he kept everyone else's clean.

He wished he could go out on a hunt. He knew no one would stop him if he tried to leave, but part of him didn't want to leave. Not even for a few hours. He hadn't gone to see Beth personally, although he wanted to. From what everyone was saying, she still wasn't awake. Daryl blamed himself for the entire incident. Ever since Rick went soft, Daryl felt responsible for protecting everyone. Especially everyone from the original group and the farm. He wanted to go see Beth. Even if she wasn't awake, he wanted to make sure she was okay. His guilt overwhelmed him and every time he tried to go to the make-shift infirmary, and he froze in his tracks. He would have to see her after she woke up though. There was no avoiding that.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open. The sun light that filtered through the room was much too bright. I squinted my eyes against the harsh light and tried to sit up. That was a bad idea. My head immediately began to throb and flashes of white spilled across my vision. I laid my head back against the pillow and squeezed my eyes shut. Pain radiated throughout my skull. Eventually the ache subsided enough for me to open my eyes again. I looked around the room. My view was pretty limited, but I could see someone lounging in a chair across the room.

"Daddy?" I questioned. I could hardly recognized my own voice. My throat was dry and the word came out garbled and cracked.

"Bethie? Oh thank God you're awake!"

He grabbed his crutch and made his way over to the bed I was lying on. I could see him better now that he was closer. He looked horrible. His eyes were red and they looked swollen. His face was pale too. He wrapped his arms around me and I immediately felt safe. He pulled away and a few stray tears slid down his face.

"I don't know what I would 'a done if I would 'a lost you." His voice was shaky, but there was a gleam in his eyes.

He cradled my face in his hands and placed a kiss on my forehead. His hands were clammy, but I didn't mind. I was just glad that he was here.

"Hershel, is she awake?"

Daddy turned as Rick entered the room. Relief flashed across his face when he saw me. I knew that Rick always took it pretty hard when someone in the group got hurt. I tried to sit up, but for some reason my body didn't want to cooperate. Daddy helped me get myself propped up, and he placed another pillow behind me for support.

"How're you feelin'?" Rick asked.

"Okay I guess." My voice broke and cracked again. Rick grabbed a bottle of water from one of the cupboards and offered it to me. My hands shook, but I was able to steady them enough to take a drink.

"Thanks," I said.

He nodded and placed a reassuring hand on Daddy's shoulder.

"I can go find Maggie. They went on a run this morning, but they're probably back now." Rick offered.

Daddy nodded, "That would be great, thank you Rick."

He left and moments later Maggie walked through the door. She offered me a smile and hugged me.

"Oh Beth, I'm sorry."

I wrapped my arms around her as best I could. I don't know why everyone felt like this was their fault. If anything, it was mine. I was the stupid one that didn't stick with the rest of the group. After a few moments she let go and offered me another smile. A tear slid down her cheek and Daddy hugged us both.

"My two strong and beautiful girls. You both have grown and matured so much. I just wish you could have done so in a world that wasn't so dark."

I was surprised at first to hear him refer to me as strong and beautiful. Maggie was both those things, but I was certainly not. Up until now, I just had assumed that everyone else viewed me as just another child that they needed to take care of. I was glad to hear that at least Daddy decided I was mature enough to be viewed as an adult. The three of us stayed there for a while. We talked about the past and cried and laughed. Personally, I was glad. The world we lived in wasn't necessarily "family friendly". If you didn't make time for each other, you may never have a chance to be a family. It had been so long since we were able to open up and just talk as a family. It was nice. Eventually Maggie had to leave to help get dinner ready and Daddy suggested that I rest up before dinner. He was determined to see me eat something, and I had no complaints. Neither did my stomach.

I never went back to sleep, but I did rest. Since I was confined to a bed, I let my mind wander. No matter how hard I tried to keep my thoughts away from that night, my brain kept overthinking. It kept focusing on one point in particular, Daryl Dixon. Why on earth was he there? I mean, I thank God that he was, but shouldn't he have been at dinner? Maybe he just heard the commotion? Or maybe the good Lord just put him in the right time at the right place. I knew I should just leave it be, but I knew next time I saw him that I would have to talk with him.


End file.
